Breaking habits with implementation intentions: A test of underlying processesAdriaanse, Gollwitzer, de Ridder, de Wtit & Kroese (2011)Personality and social psychology bulletin Implementation intentions specifying the replacement of a habitual response with an alternative response in a critical situation can overrule habits. Implementation intention eliminate the cognitive advantage of the habitual means in the race with the alternative response. The cognitive advantage of the habitual means is not immediately replaced by an automatic activation of the alternative means.Formulating counter-habitual implementation intentions increases individuals’ flexibility to choose with behaviour to perform in the critical situation. Actual behaviour will depart form their habits only to the extent that individuals have strong alternative goal intentions. Habits develop as people repeatedly perform a specific behaviour in a stable situation to pursue their goals. This co-occurrence between the situation and the behaviour eventually creates a direct mental association between the situation and the behaviour, which is strengthened each time they subsequently covary. This association is strengthened to the extent that when the situation is encountered, the behaviour follows automatically.The most important moderator of the intention-behaviour relation is the extent to of habitual control over...